Vehicle body heated floor construction



Feb. 16, 1960 T. w. MlLLIGAN 2,925,301

' VEHICLE BODY HEATED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1, 1958 2 Sheets-*Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

7 1720772425 W/VtZ/L an,

Thomas W. Milligan, Hinsdale,-Ill., assignor to Standard 7 Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago 111., a corporation of Delaware v a Application August 1, 1958, Serial No. 752,446

3 Claims. (Cl. 296-28) This invention relates to vehicle bodies, and especially to bodies of vehicles that are adapted'to move large,

discrete masses of material, such as earthmoving equipment. a

More specifically, the invention is directed to a vehicle body of the kind described having associated with its bottom and/or sides a conduit system, throughwhich fluids can be passed, usually. for the purpose of heating the burden of the vehicle. The inventionis illustrated as applied to a trailer bodythat is adapted to be pulled by a tractor, the contents of which when loaded are discharged by the tipping of the body by raising its forward end so as to dump the contents over the tail-gate portion.

It has been known heretofore to provide vehicles with various types of double bottoms in order to canalize hot fluids therethrough so as to heat the contents; and it 5 It is the principalobject of preferably the latter, .in a simplified way that ,does not materially increase the cost of the vehicle body, but which adds, greatly to the strength In the drawings: 2

' Figure l is a longitudinal mid-sectional elevational view. of a trailer body embodyingthepresent invention; Figure 2isa sectiontaken along line 2-2 of Figure 1,

looking in the direction of the arrows; and I Figure 31is a plan view of the; construction shown in Figures 1 and v2. a J

Referring nowmore particularly to the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of the presentinvention comprises a trailer body composed of a right side wall 2, a left side wall 3, and an end wall 4, formed of sheet metal-stock, within which corrugations 5 have been impressed for strengthening and stiifening the walls. A channel .memher 6 is also provided to extend around topedges of the side walls and end wall to provide a wide bulb properly 7 to finish the top edges of the sheet metal and toprovide .a stiffening frame for the .assembly. I

The bottom 7, which connects the side walls, is com? United sate ratem'o formed by the corrugations of theb'otto'm' ply 9 in cooperation with the top plyf8 and flo'wtherethrough to r the opposite manifold, from whence it is'exhausted, as

at 15, at the diagonally opposite corner of the body.

, a manifold associated withv a side wall adjacent said bot- It is intended that the exhaust gases, as from a Diesel tractor employed .to pull a'trailer of the kind described, will be coupled to the intake opening 14, and thus supply a heated flow of gases through the conduits just described until they are discharged into the ambient atmosphere through the outlet port 15. There is thus provided a simple, strong, and highly useful double-wall construe tion which may be heated so as to defreeze any moist material that may repose in the vehicle body, such. as wet earth, which becomes frozen during cold weather operations. a

It is obviousthat other variations in the construction are admissible without-departing from the spirit of the invention which is apprehended in and by the following claims:

What is claimed is: r r s l.- A vehicle body comprised of side and bottom walls,

tom wall, saidlbottom"wall being formed 'of two plies 'Qf metal sheet stock connected together; the upper of and usefulness thereof, 1 i

i said manifold for distribution to and circulation through said plies along its :side margins being offset from the other ply, the edges of the 'oflset portions being sealed to, adjacent sidewalls so that the offset portions and the included portion ,of'the, side walls form said manifolds,

the other oneof said plies having corrugationstherein,

, said corrugations in cooperation with-the,,1 1pper ply de- 1 fining fluid conduits extending across said bottom wall,

said conduitsterminating in said manifolds in open communication therewith, and means for admitting, fluid. to

, said conduits.

a 2; A vehicle body comprised of side and bottom walls, a said bottom wall being formed of two plies of metal sheet stock connected together; one of said plies alongone of its margins being oflset with respect to the other ply in spaced relation thereto, the "edge of said oflset portion being sealed to an adjacent side wall to definea manifold; the other of said plies having corrugationstherein, said corrugations in cooperation with said first mentioned ply defining fluid conduits extending across said bottom wall normal to said manifold, said conduits terminating in said other ply in open communication with said manifold, and means for'admitting fluid torsaidmanifold for posed of two plies of sheet metal, the upper ply 8 being shown as a smooth plate, and the bottom ply being shown 5 as a corrugated plate 9 having its corrugations extend ing transversely of the vehiclebody. It will-be obvious that the relationship between these plates could be reversed, or that both could be corrugated if itwould not distribution to and circulation throughsaid, conduits.

, 3. A vehicle body bottom comprised of two plies of a gsheetv metal secured together, the upperply being flat be objectionable to have other than asmooth surface within the vehicle body to assist'in the dischargeof-the contents. V V As is best seen in Figure 2, the upperply 8 is turned upwardly at its longitudinal margins 10 so as to become spaced from the bottom ply 9, the edges of which are sealed as by welding at 11 to form an enclosed chamber 12 adjacent the side and bottom 'walls'of the vehicle that shall hereinafter be referred to asthe manifoldsjl2, for

reasons immeditaely to appear.

The corrugations in the bottom -ply9 aregraded into the plane of the stock from which it isrformed', as at 13, so as to become progressively shallower until-they disappear adjacent the side edges'of the bottomply. Each of the corugations at its opposite ends underlies the manifolds 12, so as tofbefin open communication and along its opposed side margins being oifset at 'an 7 angle with respect to the other ply definingtriangular manifolds therebetween, the lower ply having coplanar side andend margins, corrugations pressed downwardly from the plane of said, lower ply extending normal to and terminating in open communication with said manifolds, said corrugat ons in cooperation with said upper ply formingconduits extending between said manifolds,

' means for admitting fluid to the front end of one of said manifolds, and means for exhausting fluid from the rear end of the other of said manifolds.

' 7 References Cited'inthe fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,9253) Patented Feb. 16, 1960 .Ferwerda Ian; 2, 1934 Great Britain Mar. 21, 1956, I 

